In this essay, Father Brian J. Shanley discusses Providence College's pilot program to eliminate standardized test scores from the required components of an admission application. Building on the college's ninety-year history of opening the doors of higher education to underrepresented populations, Providence College's test-optional policy is…

There is a need to investigate novel interventions that promote worksite physical activity and wellness. Objective: The authors' purpose in this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-week walking program supplemented with a pedometer, computer educational program, and weekly e-mails. Methods: College faculty and staff participated in a…

America's urban high schools are having trouble making sophomores, resulting in freshmen classes bulging with students repeating a grade. Research shows that these students are at high risk of failure and dropout. Urban districts have begun to respond to the notable "freshmen bulge" through school restructuring. This mixed-methods study…

The evaluation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot sought to understand how districts implemented R-Tech grants, the effects of implementation on student and teacher outcomes, as well as the cost effectiveness and sustainability of R-Tech. The Texas legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of…

Background: Many of the potential benefits of using virtual worlds for teaching and learning are difficult to define and often become overly focused on the functionality of the technology or on its ability to support informal or "social" forms of learning. Purpose: The aim of the paper is to highlight the experiential nature of virtual…

Several studies have demonstrated that games have been effectively used as an instructional strategy to motivate and engage students. This paper presents the use of the process of game development as an instructional strategy to promote higher order thinking skills. An analysis of the various aspects of game development including graphics,…

After successful pilot projects, Zhejiang Province, China, decided to systematically scale-up health promoting schools (HPS) over the entire province of 47 million. This study describes the interventions and self-reported changes in attitudes, knowledge and behavior during the first phase of scaling-up. Group interviews were conducted with a…

Brazil's Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region is conducting a performance evaluation pilot study at three schools serving disadvantaged populations. The objective is first to test methods which can facilitate Post Occupancy Evaluations (POEs) and then to carry out the evaluations. The preliminary results are provided below.

This paper presents the design, features and pilot evaluation study of a web-based environment--the SORTING environment--for the learning of sorting algorithms by secondary level education students. The design of this environment is based on modeling methodology, taking into account modern constructivist and social theories of learning while at…

Objective: Tailored nutrition Web programs constitute an emerging trend in obesity prevention. Initial investment in innovative technology necessitates that the target population be well understood. This pilot study's purpose was to determine the feasibility of a workplace nutrition Web program. Design: Formative research was conducted with gaming…

A qualitative study of a pilot writing course for baccalaureate social work (BSW) students evaluated the process and development of students' academic and professional writing. The course provided students the opportunity to build writing skills, develop a professional paper, and present at a national social work conference. Students and…

The objectives of this study were to: (a) determine if very young children will wear an accelerometer for relatively long periods of time and comply with the protocol for its use; (b) evaluate how well a caregiver can estimate the activity level of his/her infant or toddler when completing an exposure-oriented time activity diary; and (c) compare…

This paper focuses primarily on the methodological considerations of a study investigating the interactions of pairs of disabled and non-disabled children working together on computer-based tasks, in mainstream primary schools in Cyprus. Twenty dyads of pupils (each pair comprising a disabled child and a non-disabled peer), were observed and…

This paper reports the results of a pilot in-service teacher training program undertaken in China from 2001 to 2004. Upon completion, the in-service teachers were awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree (non-honor) specializing in English Language Education. Many interesting findings resulted from this pilot program. By integrating low- and…

Case-based activities are widely proclaimed to enable better learning through allowing students to practice application of concepts in real-life situations. This paper reports an investigation into the learning benefits derived from engaging students in the development of Pharmacy eCases. This is a small scale pilot study. Two student-developers…